Backstreet Records was a sub-label that was created for Tom Petty by MCA in the 1980's. This resulted from a standoff between Tom Petty and MCA over publishing and distribution rights of Petty's works. This occurred after Tom Petty's material was obtained during a purchase of another label by MCA. The standoff eventually resulted in the distribution rights being handled by MCA but that Petty would retain his publishing rights. The first album that Backstreet Records published was Damn The Torpedoes. Thomas Earl Tom Petty (born October 20, 1950) is a singer and guitarist. ...

This material was garnered from Running Down a Dream: Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, a documentary put out about Tom Petty, http://imdb.com/title/tt0965382/.